The Young One
by Niteflite
Summary: A mini pod? And what's the inhabitint's connection to a certain Beast Warrior? 3rd in a series.


The Young One

By:  Niteflite and Rainbowings 

Rattrap stared at the screen, creating a new program. Sure, he was supposed to be watching for any more alien problems, but he had a screen trained to show any unusual activity. The only thing worth focusing on was the card program he'd created.

"Okay, let's see if this'll work," he mumbled as he pressed a few keys.

"Hello, handsome, wanna play poker?" breathed the computer in a realistically feminine voice. The fact that there were amazingly few females (make that none) who succumbed to his good looks and charm left Rattrap rather perturbed.

"Hey, Wheels, wake up!"  Rattrap wheeled about in his chair, and found himself staring up at the black form of Niteflite, the newest Maximal. "Maybe you should pry your optics off of that interesting game of poker long enough to do your job? There's something entering the atmosphere."

Switching his gaze, Rattrap recognized the form of a pod hitting the atmosphere, but it was hard to make out. Thinking that the size was because it was just too far away, Rattrap asked the computer, "How long to impact?"

"Impact in one cycle." Rattrap was surprised. Pods aren't usually that small.

"Rattrap, I suggest you hurry," Niteflite said.

"No duh. I'm taking the flyin' cat. Take over, but don't touch mah program!"

Niteflite giggled. "I don't think I'd want to anyway, Wheels."

Rattrap and Cheetor found the mini pod that the scanners had picked up.

"Geez, I hope this little thing is worth the trouble that we're going through to retrieve it," Rattrap mumbled.

"Shut up, Rattrap, and just ready the pod to scan. Let's hope the spark hasn't died yet," Cheetor replied.

"You better be a chick," Rattrap muttered to the pod as he punched the startup sequence. A yellow scan sprang up to the pod. The computer emitted the customary words as it droned, "Compatible life form found. Beginning replication process."

Now that all the work was done, Rattrap began whistling and rocking on his heels, waiting for the pod to open. Cheetor simply rolled his optics at his comrade's antics. Suddenly, in half the time it usually took to replicate a full sized protoform, the pod busted open. Out jumped a monarch butterfly.

"Hey, mister, are you a Maximal? If you aren't, I can hurt you," snapped the tiny bot. Rattrap just laughed.

"Oh, I'm so scared. Whatta ya gonna do to me, pipsqueak, flap me to death?" teased Rattrap as he tried to push the butterfly over, but it was quite hard to make her fall to the ground. "Tough, ain't it," said a surprised Rattrap.

"We are Maximals. I'm Cheetor and the mouse is Rattrap," said Cheetor.

"Oh, all right. I'm Rainbowings. My parents were Stardreamer and Punchout."

"Were?" Cheetor noticed that one small word. "Are you an orphan?"

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

"Hey, nothin' kid!" Rattrap hastily said. "But, ya know, dat's a nice beast mode and all, but no robot mode? What are ya, embarrassed?"

"No way! Rainbowings, Maximize!!!"

Rattrap crossed his fingers behind his back, glad that his little persuasion had worked, and hoping that she was cute.

She was cute, all right. She was just a kid! 

"Happy now?" Rainbowings asked.

"Hey, anything is ultra gear with me!" Cheetor replied.

Rattrap just grumbled. "Sure."

Rattrap's com crackled. "Niteflite to Rattrap. Is this working? Can you hear me Rattrap?"

"Yeah? What is it!"

"Oh, good. Come back to base, Wheels. Was it successful?"

Rainbowings asked, "Was what successful?"

"What? A kid? Guys, you have some explaining to do! Haul your essences over here this instant!"

"What did she mean by 'essen-', uh.. 'essen-'…"

Cheetor leaned down. "'Essences'? It probably would be easier for Nite to explain herself. She was raised in a strange place."

"Ah, geez. Let's go to base, already." Rattrap transformed and prepared to drive off.

Rainbowings' eyes lit up. "Wow, wheels! Why do you have wheels? How do you do that? Can I do that?"

Cheetor help his hands in front of him defensively. "Whoa! One at a time, please! I don't think you need wheels if you can fly in beast mode. But let's just transform and check." He transformed into his beast mode. Rainbowings transformed, and checked over her wings.

"These spots look like wheels! Mnfh! No wheels. Ooh, these spots look like jets! Mnfh! No jets. Ooh! These spots look like-"

"Oh, come on! Yer just a regular butterfly. Now let's head back to base." 

"Well, you're a poo-poo head piece of scrap metal with wheels!"

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

Cheetor just rolled his optics at the two of them. "I think you've found your mental equal, Rattrap. I'm going back to base." He fired his jets and took off.

"Well I don't need to be here arguin' wit' a kid! I'm too, an' I don't care if pipsqueak here gets scrapped by the Preds!"

"Shut up, Rattrap!" Rainbowings flapped after Cheetor.

"You shut up, bug!" Rattrap revved off, right on Cheetor's vapor trail.

"Ah, good, you're back. Niteflite told me that you were out looking for a pod. Did you find it?" Optimus looked at the two Transmetals. "I don't see anybody with you. Did the spark die?"  
  


"I wish."

"What was that, Rattrap?"

Cheetor answered for him. "The spark definitely was OK, and we found a beast mode no problem. Bigbot, meet Rainbowings."

Rainbowings peeked around from behind Rattrap. "Hey, 'Bigbot'."

Optimus was speechless for a while. His optics continued to widen until it seemed as though they would take over his face. "Yes… I remember. I hired on a child, but only because her parents begged me to. Well, Rainbowings, are your parents on their way?"

"Not a chance. They died. I'm an orphan, Bigbot."

"Umm, call me Optimus. Then, who did those pods go to?"

"I dunno. It was either go to the orphanage, or come here in this special pod with my sister."

Niteflite strode in the room. "Well you definitely chose the right solution, child. Who is your sister?"

"She's Venus. Does anyone know if she showed up yet?"

All optic turned toward the two femmes. Rainbowings stared back at all of them with a confident glare. Niteflite turned on an inquisitive look to Optimus.

"What?" both femmes asked at the same time.

"Oh, yer sis showed up all right. Telling' the truth, you don't look much like her."

Niteflite puzzled for a minute. "But if my sources are right, the only femmes who ever appeared in the Beast Wars are Blackarachnia and… No. I always wondered… You're Spectrablast!"

"Yeah. How do you know?"

"You're my aunt."

"What?????"

Optimus watched this go on. "'Oh what a tangled we weave'."

"What?" everyone chorused.

Optimus said, "Shakespeare? Human? Oh boy. I've got to educate you. Well, let's teach Rainbowings her family's past and present."

Niteflite sat on her bed in beast mode thinking about the look on her aunt's face. _How strange to have an aunt who could be my baby sister._ Rainbowings probably thought the same thing, to judge from the look of astonishment on her face. Nite could remember when she'd found out about her aunt.

Airazor and Tigatron were talking when Niteflite wandered into their compartment. She heard them mention Cheetor, Rattrap, Dinobot, and all the other Maximals. She liked hearing stories about them. She heard Mommy say "Spectrablast" too. Maybe she was another Maximal.

**"Daddy?" Niteflite climbed onto Tigatron's lap. "Who's Spec'er Bwast?"**

**Airazor said, "She's my sister, your aunt. She was in a pod, so she should show up, some day."**

**"Here?"**

**"No, on Earth, do you know where that is?"**

**Niteflilte smiled. "Yeah. It'th where Rattrap and Optimuth and Cheeto' and Dinobot and Rinokth and umm, the Predaconth live."**

**Airazor smiled at her daughter. "Good job."**

**_My parents shall perform more tests on you now. Please come._******

**"Yeth, 'Frien'."**

_Knock knock._ Niteflite woke from her reverie, startled by the door. She hopped off her bed and started toward the door. _Knock knock knock._

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Stay solid." Niteflite transformed and opened the door to find Cheetor tapping his foot impatiently.

"Sorry. Guess I should learn to be more patient." He walked into her room.

Niteflite closed the door behind him. "One of many skills that can help. Why'd you come?"

Cheetor smiled. "Thought it was obvious. Are you okay with Rainbowings? I mean, she's your aunt. What's it like?"

"I dunno. I don't really see anything different. It's more of a surprise that she's a kid. I've always known that I had an aunt." Niteflite thought for a sec. "It must have come as quite a shock for her. Y'know, I'm going to go right on over there, and check on her coloring."

"What?"

"Er, see if she's OK."

"Oh, yeah. It probably was a surprise. She didn't have anything to say the whole time. No smart remarks at all."

"That's a normal occurrence, Big Cat?"

"Far as I can tell."

Niteflite and Cheetor walked out of her room and headed down the hall,  holding hands, to the room assigned to Rainbowings. As they turned the corner, they saw Rattrap standing in the corridor. He was facing an open door.

"If ya think yer a good fighter, then I'm a monkey's uncle!"

"Gee! I didn't know Optimus was your nephew, Mr. Swiss Cheese!"

"If ya wanna settle this once and for all, I know a bunch of Preds who'd love to have ya over for target practice!"

Niteflite and Cheetor giggled. Both knew that Rainbowings had sufficiently recovered (although how they had such insight is beyond me. Flyby has proven how dense they can be). They walked up to the argument.

"I don't know, Rattrap. At least give me a chance to talk to my aunt, before she IS swiss cheese."

Niteflite peeked around the doorway to see Rainbowings holding one of her weapons.

"Hi, auntie Rainbowings."

The little bot smiled. She reached out with her free hand and attempted to grasp her niece's cheek. "So there's my wittle fwuffy cheeks!"

Niteflite grabbed her hand. She smiled, but her optics glittered coldly. "Don't push it." The other bots looked at her in surprise. They hadn't seen this side of her before. Just as abruptly, her expression warmed as she said, "What does that rifle shoot? Do you know?"

Rainbowings blinked. "Dunno. But I've got other weapons. I can spray stun powder, and I have a lasso."

Cheetor laughed. "Those are pretty cool. Y'know what my main weapon is?" He waved his hands. "I put these together, and things go boom!"

The three younger bots laughed. Rattrap just looked at them as if the all had a virus in their gears.

"Geez. It don't take much, does it? I gotta go."

"Where to?"

"Anywhere, to get away from you crazy bots."

Rainbowings yelled after him, "See ya later, Limburger!"

"Yeah right, Moth!"

Cheetor waved to Rattrap. _They're gonna be good friends. It may be just like him'n Dinobot. Well… nah. Nowhere near the same._

Meanwhile, at the Predacon base… 

"Inferno!"

"Yes, my queen?"

"Do stop calling me that! Is the plan already in action?"

"No, my queen."

"Ugh… Well as usual, it is up to me to mobilize the troops. Inferno, go with Waspinator into Maximal territory. Head straight for the Axalon. Do not try to call in reinforcements, but do report the click that the new Maximal appears."

"Yes, my queen."

"I am not a queen! Now go."

"Yes, my quee-"

"GO!"

Blackarachnia watched all of this in amusement. _It's amazing how Megatron can find flunkies stupider than himself._

"Blackarachnia!"

"What, Megatron?"

"You and Quickstrike will capture the new Maximal. Bring her to me. There are some… questions I need to ask her. Yess."

"Pfft. Sure. Whatever you say, O supreme ruler of all that you see," Blackarachnia replied, her voice dripping with venomous sarcasm. "Come on, Quickstrike."

"Okay, Sugarbot. I sure am tickled pink that yer goin' with me."

"Well, don't be, okay? It's not a good color on you."

As the Predacons left the base Megatron sat back in his chair. "Now Optimus Primal, I have moved all my pawns. I may now say, 'Checkmate'. Hahahahahahahahah *cough* haha *sputter*. Computer, *cough* cough drop."


End file.
